Stiverne - Next AJ opponent?

Stiverne would be a great match up but imo from a businesses standpoint its not a smart fight too dangerous,

Parker/takam winner or Pulev/Chisora winner

There are other fights the fans would prefer to see but from a businesses point those are the only fight i see making sense before he steps up to the big fights like haye,fury etc. i also think those fights are enough for him to develop and get ready for the top dogs too.


Stiverne is a VERY good fight, but makes no sense unless its a mandatory defense at this point too dangerous and AJ can sell out the o2 fighting anybody at this point.

a couple of weak defenses then its, fury,wilder,haye,wlad if he beats furty etc, dillian whyte rematch would be big at some point,

 

This would be a perfect fight from all angles. A legit top 10ish hw, and a natural step up from what he's faced. A former belt holder, someone known, someone who can give AJ rounds. Someone with power AJ would need to fear, but also someone who struggles with taller HW's, so it makes sense in bringing AJ along. AJ is a little bit further along then Wilder was when Wilder faced him, so I don't think it's too dangerous a fight, unless you are taking the position that it is best to protect him at all costs for bigger money fights. But if that's the case, you're making his defeat in one of those fights more likely. Would be a good fight to make some money, whet the appetite for more lucrative fights, and give AJ needed experience to leave him in the best position to succeed in those fights.

Actually, and I'm sure this won't be popular, but Stiverne is fairly comparable style and danger wise to Haye, except it's quite possible that Haye is shot and thus much less dangerous than Stiverne. Regardless, it would be good prep for a smaller, sneacky punching hw with great power.

 

Which is why Malik Scott is allegedly being lined up. AJ will blow him out within 3-4 rounds and the casuals will love it.

I'd prefer to see the Stiverne fight, Scott has no business challenging for a world title at this point IMO.

 

Stiverne looked like absolute rubbish against Wilder.
Stiverne is a slow plodder.

I guess a lot of AJ fans want to see him blast out some fat old "former champion" (perhaps the 2nd worst 'champ' ever, behind Martin) in another pathetic mismatch. They lap it up.

Bum City.

 

It'll be another american bumhooler. Jokesville.

 

If Stiverne comes in shape he's a good fighter. Good power good chin. Hes solid durable and a decent counter puncher. Actually might be a Thompson moment waiting to happen here.

I actually think a faded Haye might be less dangerous fight.

But both have big question marks. Chisora as a make time fight would be a sensible fight.

An idea might be to go after Johann Duhaupas...Caused Wilder all sorts of aggro before getting stopped and has regroupd with a couple of solid wins since. If Joshua wins quicker than Wilder its a throw down of the gauntlet if not...its a learning fight with a degree of risk.

Present day Arreola would probably make for a good tear up but hes obviously on the downside of his career so make it a hard sell

 

Stiverne is a tough fight, I don't see them going this route to be honest I think a Jennings fight is more likely. To be honest I think he could have taken any fight and not got any criticism really but because he is on Box Office he has to fight someone who is relatively decent.

 

Hearn said it has to be an American, so basically it's out of Scott, Stiverne or Jennings.

Jennings coming off back to back losses so doubt it will be him (cant really sell that fight), Stiverne too dangerous at this stage, so that leaves Scott - joke PPV fight.

 

Which is the problem with AJ having a belt. 15 fights in fighting the divisions gate keeper isn't a totally bad thing. Scott is a bit different he's not going to try and out slug you he's going to try and box. Wins over Thompson and Lepai both a bit past it but Thompson has been competitive up until Ortiz but dig a bit deeper and Scott has been stopped by Chisora and we know Del Boy is a Euro level fighter.

 

I would love to see this fight, is it dangerous for AJ? Yes but if he's going to keep fighting on ppv then their had to be an element of danger in all of his fights from now on. Stiverne has a good chin so if AJ knocked him out that would make a big statement. He's one of the few fighters out their that I think could take AJ the distance.

 

It will probably be Stiverne, judging from the amount of people here who think he's "dangerous".

Stiverne, to me, fits the bill of some old fat over-the-hill journeyman type contender who will come over for a payday.
He looked absolutely horrendous losing to Wilder. He perhaps looked even worse in his only fight since.

 

That's what people said about Tony Thompson.

 

I thought Thompson was a pretty good fighter. I considered him a real threat to Price at the time. Maybe partly because Price never seemed as good as Joshua.
Getting beaten up by Wlad was never as bad as plodding to a decision loss against Wilder.
Of course, any fighter might cause an upset. But Stiverne just doesn't strike me as a dangerous opponent for Joshua at this stage.
Jennings is better, but he's coming off 2 losses so probably needs a few lesser fights to get himself back.